Julian Assange's Great Escape
The most interesting thing about the story about Julian Assange's possible offer of political asylum in Ecuador is now the adventure he may have in trying to leave London, which could involve him shimmying out a window or getting smuggled in a bag.
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Working thought some possible scenarios, Reuters' Estelle Shirbon and Maria Golovnina suggest that the WikiLeaks founder's escape from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he's staying, to a flight bound for nation where it still seems likely he'll be offered asylum. Assange, who fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London in June after losing an appeal in his fight against extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges, is subject to arrest for breaking the terms of his British bail. He's protected inside the building, and if he travels in a diplomatic car, but the way the embassy is constructed, he can't get from it to the car without opening himself up to interception by British police. What he needs is a workaround! Per Shirbon and Golovnina:
The property has several gated entrances and a private car park, but the Ecuadorean embassy is not linked internally with any of them, making the front entrance its only point of exit, a security manager at the building told Reuters.
"There is no other exit. He is going to have to come out of the main entrance," said the manager, who asked not to be named. "There is no way to bring a vehicle in because the car park is private and it is not connected in any way to their premises."
He added: "He can climb out of a window, of course, but there are CCTV cameras everywhere."
Other options for Assange's escape: Smuggle him in a diplomatic bag, or appoint him a diplomat for Ecuador so that he gets immunity. "Lawyers and diplomats said neither was realistic."
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As to the likelihood that Assange will actually get asylum, Guardian reporter Irene Caselli, who broke the story yesterday, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation that her "mid-government sources" were standing by their information that Ecuador had already decided to make the offer, something President Rafael Correa denied on Twitter after Caselli's initial report came out. He didn't deny that Ecuador would offer the asylum, just that it had made a decision. "My sources stand by their story and they say that what's holding up an official announcement right now is just a few legal technicalities and a sort of finding the right timing to make the announcement," Caselli said. She pointed out that Assange's mother had already made an official visit to Ecuador, and suggested Correa simply didn't want the news to come out in The Guardian first. Correa has said a decision would be made this week.
